Fozzy returns with their 5th album, which is very much a continuation of the quasi-Avenged Sevenfold sound they started going for with 2012’s Chasing the Grail. Heck, they even got M. Shadow’s to do vocals for one of their songs (the lead single “Sandpaper”).

Previous Fozzy albums seemed to do a few really good numbers with a bunch of dreck to fill out the album. Luckily, the good outweighs the bad here. “Spider In My Mouth” is a good A7X sounding numbers where melody meets metal. “Sandpaper” sounds like a Fozzy song. “Blood Happens” has some decent moments but is ultimately not a favorite of mine because it ends up sounding like metalcore at times (complete with metalcore vocals from Jericho… don’t do that again). “Inside My Head” is standard modern hard rock but I like it. “Sin and Bones” is another driving number ready for radio. “A Passed Life” is somber and melodic. Good tune.

Despite the involvement of Motorhead’s Phil Campbell, “She’s My Addiction” is a bit too light sounding. The chorus reminds me of Trixter. “Shine Forever” is a bland modern number that comes across as Tool a bit. “Dark Passenger” is another track with low-key melodic moments and I’m starting to think it’s those moments where Fozzy’s strength really lies. The eleven minute closer “Storm the Beaches” also features those quiet moments but also some thrashy moments that bring to mind Anthrax and yet again Avenged Sevenfold.

Century Media is the fourth label the band has been on. The first two albums were released by Megaforce and they’ve been label hopping ever since. Hopefully they’ve found a new permanent home with Century Media, which is a solid label for metal bands. Jericho stated he thought Sin And Bones was the band’s “black album”, the one that’s going to break them into the mainstream.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that way. The album debuted at #143 on the Billboard and even with M. Shadows “Sandpaper” didn’t chart as a single. Still, despite some criticisms I have about Jericho’s voice), the band itself is writing better songs. Is it the Black Album? Not quite but it’s definitely Fozzy’s best album so far.

Well, it’s finally here: “Slash & Friends” (the original working title for this project). The few reviews I’ve read are mixed. Some “fans” were crying out that it sucked and Slash had sold-out before it was even released and now that it has been released typically those same “fans” are still saying it sucks and Slash is a sell out. Then you have Classic Rock magazine, who has claimed it’s the first great rock album of the decade. This might sound like mighty fine praise to some but given that the album was released in April 2010 the statement seems less impressive and sounds more like hyperbole to help promote an album they have a vested interest in (the album was a free UK-exclusive gift with a special Slash-themed issue of Classic Rock).

For my money ($7.99 + free shipping from BestBuy.com!), this is indeed a great album and I don’t really get the “sell out” criticisms. Why is he a sell out? Because a GIRL sings on this album? Fergie has a great voice for rock ‘n’ roll and she proves it on “Beautiful Dangerous”. If anything, I can see maybe cries of selling out coming from Maroon 5’s Adam Levine singing “Gotten”. It’s a decent song but if I didn’t know better, I’d say it was a Maroon 5 song. Not much rock to it at all other than the solo. Then again, Slash has always flirted with pop stars. He’s a guy that doesn’t like to pigeon hole himself and goes to play with whoever wherever he thinks he’ll have fun. Nothing wrong with that. He’s not a sellout, he’s just not close-minded.

For the most part, it seems like every song was written with that song’s particular singer in mind. I know Slash already had ideas for songs before enlisting the troops but I’m also sure the songs were tailored to suit the vocalists. “Ghost” sounds like The Cult, “Crucify the Dead” sounds like the best Ozzy song in the last decade at least, “Promise” sounds like something Chris Cornell would have done in Audioslave, “Nothing to Say” could have been on Avenged Sevenfold’s last album and so on and so on. In a way, this is somewhat disappointing for those that were looking forward to a bluesier guitar hero effort or for something similar to Guns N’ Roses from Slash. There is NOTHING here that brings to mind anything GNR has done. I’m okay with that but maybe some backlash stems from people wanting Slash to have delivered something more akin to the original GNR since Axl has moved the hired Guns into heavier more industrial terrain.

Slash claims this is a rock album and for the most part he’s right but songs like “Gotten” and “Saint is a Sinner Too” are pure pop that I can’t imagine Slash would be playing without the chosen vocalists. I was worried myself when I saw the guest list for this album. The participants just seem so over the place I thought it would all be a big mess. Definitely not the case and there’s a surprisingly low amount of filler with the two Myles Kennedy songs “Back from Cali” and “Starlight” being the only ones that really fall short with me. Kennedy is from the band Alter Bridge and he’s the only singer that has two songs and I’m sure it’s because he’s the singer for Slash’s touring band while promoting this album.

Everything else is decent at the very least while “Nothing to Say” featuring Avenged Sevenfold’s M. Shadows and the album’s lead “By the Sword” featuring Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale are my favorites. “By the Sword” has a cool Led Zeppelin/Pink Floyd classic hard rock sound to it.

Despite Slash’s insistence that this is a rock album, there’s a bit of genre jumping and he dips his feet (fret?) into the pop realm but it’s only done so in order to fit the singers. Even though this is a self-titled affair, Slash really isn’t the star here. There’s some good solos on this disc but this album isn’t built around them. It’s all about the songs as a whole and Slash (and friends) has delivered a very satisfying release that is much better than anything he did the first time he went “solo” with Slash’s Snakepit.

I do have two disappointments though: Dave Grohl drums on the album but does not sing (he apparently has a thing against singing on other peoples’ albums) and the U.S. version of this album does not feature “Baby Can’t Drive” featuring Alice Cooper and The Pussycat Dolls’ Nicole Scherzinger. It’s a pretty cool song so what gives ?!